So on the eve of my 50th birthday, I find myself reflecting on the significance of my time upon this planet and about how things have changed since I’ve been alive. And you know something? The more I ponder on this the more I realize that nothing has really changed at all.

First let me start by saying that the year I was born, 1965, may have been the most eventful year in all of history. It was the year that saw the death of Winston Churchill and the assassination of Malcolm X. It was the year that Rover 9 landed on the moon and the year the Russians completed the first successful space walk which started the international race to the moon. It was the year that the United States officially entered the Viet-Nam war. It was the year that gave us the birth of Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen and Rob Zombie . (LSD was also wildly popular as well which might explain those three).

Mohammad Ali was the heavyweight champion of the world and the first ever NFL Superbowl was about to take place between the Green bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

On my birthday itself, September 11th, the world became a little darker with the birth of Bashar Al-Assad.

I know, I know, but it made up for it by giving us the birth of Diane Lane. Who I would see 13 years later in a small play in a tiny theater in downtown Los Angeles and immediately would fall madly in love.

September 11th also was the day the first Calvary division landed in Qui Nhon, South Vietnam.

1965 brought us Martin Luther King and his march across that bridge in Selma, Alabama.

We had a Democratic president in Lyndon B. Johnson who had created a racially divided country. 200 police attacked 450 protesters, beating them and dowsing them in tear gas. Further marches ensued that year and with growing pressure from the civil rights activists and the Republican heavy congress. President Johnson was forced to pass the “right to vote law” granting all minority citizens the right to cast a ballet.

But it was a little too late, the Watts Riots ignited anyway.

On Sunday morning of April 25, 1965, 16-year-old Michael Andrew Clark opened fire on cars traveling along highway 101 just south of Orcutt, California, from a nearby hilltop. Three people were killed and ten were wounded before Clark committed suicide upon arrival of police.

Two hundred and fifty thousand men, women and children were massacred in Indonesia by the government after the United States declared them to be Communist party sympathizers.

On July 16, 1965 eight nurses were brutally murdered by Richard Speck. (The details I won’t bother going into ).

Islamic state of Pakistan declared war on India and began terrorist activity throughout the Middle East to purge the area of western influence.

On September 11th 1965 The Beatles “Help” was number one on the charts with The Rolling Stones “Satisfaction” closing in at second.

“The Sound of Music” was number one at the box office and “Gun smoke” was the highest rated show on television. It was also the year that all shows were broadcasts for the first time in full living color.

So looking back at 1965 and looking at today, not much has changed. Islamic nations still hate western culture. The top rated t.v. shows still depict gun violence, prostitution and drug use as normal everyday life. Assad is now in power and still a dark shadow of humanity. We still have a Democratic president creating a racially divided country and we still have African-American citizens rioting over equality. There are still people shooting people for no reason. “The sound of music” was just recently back in the theaters. We still have the worst foreign policy since, well since Johnson lived in the white house.

Sheen, Downey Jr. and Zombie are still pretty messed up … and I am still madly in love with Diane Lane.

We all still need help and still get no satisfaction.

I am still a part of a family of six just as I was growing up, only now I am the oldest and it’s me who runs the house. (please don’t tell my wife, she thinks she runs it). The sun still shines, the theories still conspire, the days still turn to nights. The ice caps are still melting and big brother is still watching everybody.

I was really hoping for more you know. Some flying cars, a lazer gun or two, a teletransporter would be cool. But no. All I got was less hair and a little more waist. There is still no world peace and the world is still coming to an end. Communist still suck and Liberals still suck the air out of the room. Republicans still are to blame for anything that happens to go wrong and the Cubs still haven’t won a World Series.

Let hope when my children reflect on their 50 years they will see more of a change.

All in all, life has been very kind to me. The key is to just let it happen. Savor the moments that are good and don’t stress over the times that are bad. You catch the breeze when it flows and you leave no beauty unappreciated. Trust in the bigger plan. Realize that this existence is a mere blip in our journey.